The GCAA directive came days after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed on Sunday (10th March), taking all 157 lives on board – the second tragic incident involving this type of aircraft within five months.

A spokesperson for flyDubai says: “The flydubai team is working hard to minimise disruption to its passengers. Flydubai is directly contacting passengers who are affected. The airline continues to provide regular updates on Facebook and flydubai.com.”

They added that the cancellations made up 12 per cent of the airline’s schedule.

Dubai-based airline Emirates doesn’t currently operate the aircraft, so its schedules will continue as normal.